Price of Asia takeovers unreasonable -Allianz CEO

FRANKFURT

FRANKFURT Feb 22 (Reuters) - Allianz said it saw
prices for insurance takeovers in Asia as too high, underpinning
its decision to distribute insurance products in partnership
with HSBC.

"We just looked at where the opportunities for M&A in Asia
are and found them unreasonable from the pricing point of view
and also from the scale point of view," Allianz Chief Executive
Michael Diekmann told an analysts conference.

"There was nothing clean that we really wanted to invest
in," Diekmann said, mentioning insurance assets that Dutch bank
ING had put up for sale.

The deal Allianz struck to distribute its insurance products
through HSBC offices in Asia and Turkey was better and a cheaper
opportunity, he added.